Hope fulfilled

The psalmist from the texts of the Roman CatholicLectionary today proclaims that God is ever mindful of His Covenant. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews exhorts us to remain faithful to the fulfillment of the hope by which we live. The mindfulness of God may create an image of a Divine enforcer who waves the Law at people. The Covenant is that the Creature and the Creator will be united. The Pharisees in the time of Jesus and some religious authorities today continue to seek to wield control over the practices whereby humans come into relationship with God and to define to boundaries that put people in opposition to God. The hope by which we live, expressed in Hebrews, is that we share in the relationship of Jesus, the High Priest who is fully human, with the Father. This relationship celebrates our humanity and in the words of Jesus, through the Evangelist Mark, intends the Sabbath for people, not people for the Sabbath. The “rules” which, according to Friar JudeWinkler, were given the widest, most rigorous interpretation by the Pharisee authority could distort the hope proclaimed in the Letter to the Hebrews that God is faithful. Jesus cites an example of King David using the sacred “Showbread” as nutrition for his followers. Friar Jude uncovers a factual error in this historical reference which he presents as further evidence of the will of God that Jesus surrender the Divine prerogative as fully human person. The humanity of Jesus gives the hope that we who are imperfect before the Law may approach the Throne of God with boldness in the confidence that the Covenant over which God is mindful is promised to His Creatures as they are.